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making your own inner covers

I build all my own woodenware except for frames because I can build it for about a third of what you can buy it for out of the catalogs. I am not happy with my inner covers though, I built them out of masonite and just tacked and glued a rim on both sides, and cut the elongated hole in the cover. However the masonite soon warps when put on the hive so what you end up with is a bow either upwards or downwards and creates problems. If it warps upwards then the bees have a hard time accessing the top of the cover (because of the larger bee space) for when I feed an inverted jar. If it warps downward then the bee space is virtually nothing and the bees cannot cross the tops of the centermost frames with the inner cover on, also when you put the inner cover back on after doing an inspection it will crush a bunch of bees.
For those of you who build your own inner covers, what do you build them out of? Looking for something that will not warp to eliminate the problems I am having with mine. Thanks. John

Re: making your own inner covers

Re: making your own inner covers

jmgi

I buy sheets of 3/8" plywood for the panels and buy the cedar replacment rails for $4.25 each. They are pretty easy to glue up and staple. I think I get 13 panels from each sheet of plywood so the coast is about $66.50 for 13 inner covers or $5.11 each. They are very sturdy and you never have to worry about them warping.

"Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay".....Krishnamurti

Re: making your own inner covers

I made a few out of scrap wood I had laying around and some 1/4 inch birch plywood. I cut a dado in the rim boards and let the plywood freefloat. I cut a 4inch square in the center fo better summer ventilation (with a propped lid it eliminated almost all the fanning even on hot days, think I read about it under PoV by Walt Wright). They've only been in there a year, but no warpage and I used some gallon bucket feeders for a while on them without any problem... I may try 3/8th plywood next year, I've got a few to make again this winter anyway.

Re: making your own inner covers

Re: making your own inner covers

I beginning to think that letting the plywood float in the rim groove instead of glueing it (the way I did it) is the way to go. Maybe my masonite inner covers wouldn't have warped at all, or least not as bad if I wouldn't have glued them in.

Re: making your own inner covers

I don't like masonite inner covers for the reasons already mentioned...they warp out of shape. Brushy Mountain makes the best inner covers I've found. You might want to consider buying one, then use it as a pattern to make your own. They use 3/8 exterior plywood in the center.

Re: making your own inner covers

Howdy

I use 3/8 plywood. My rims are 7/8 x 1 1/2. Since they are 1 1/2" I just rip them from whatever 2x stock I have. Then glue and staple plywood into dado. I have no warping and no problems with expansion or contraction. Rather than an oblong center hole, I cut the hole to fit a feeder jar.